Based on a report released by the Institute for Security and Development Policy, there are 150,000 troops out of the 400,000 recruits that were college level students or graduates. A majority of the army is still composed of individuals with a high school education.
The PLA is encouraging intellectuals to sign up, part of the army's strengthening and modernization strategy.
Chas W. Freeman, Jr. former Assistant Secretary of Defense said that China's efforts to have more educated soldiers were not going to be effective.
"They are clearly not engaged in a major military build-up," he said. "They are engaged in a modernization program because they have a junk-yard army with '50s equipment."
Freeman was referring to China's low-tech armaments in the '90s when the U.S. had to give military support to the conflict with Taiwan.
In 1993, former President Jiang Zemin called for modernization of the army, and such call to action is still continued today. The military budget doubled and acquisitions became more ambitious, according to the Stockholm International Peace Research Institute (SIPRI).
Former President Hu Jintao, in 2011, made major reforms in the military as well. He made changes to the Military Service Law and gave incentives to college students who enlisted.
"The military is facing prominent difficulties in recruiting soldiers, retaining professionals. We must find the solution to these problems by adjusting and reforming related policies and institutions," he said.
This change in policy altered the army's composition as it used to focus recruitment in rural areas only.
These incentives included preferential treatment in the civil service if the soldiers decide to terminate their army services. They can also re-enroll to a major that they chose, and get tax breaks if they decide to start their own businesses.
China's military budget in 2015, according to the SIPRI report, is now at $215 billion.